Survey: TV industry seeks balanced working environment
April 26, 2021
In the first of a regular series of surveys to test the health of the international TV industry, the TellyCast/ WorkShare Consulting Content Industry Monitor found that less than one in ten (9 per cent) of executives wish to return to full time, permanent office working following the pandemic.
The results showed that the vast majority of TV industry office workers are looking forward to a balance of working environments in the future with nearly half of all respondents preferring either three days per week (26 per cent) or two days a week (21 per cent) back in their regular pre-pandemic office space.
The survey also found that there is a mountain to climb in terms of diversity in TV with a massive 83 per cent of respondents seeing a lack of BAME (Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic) representation in the industry.
Sixty per cent of TV executives have worked longer hours during the pandemic with an increase in stress during the pandemic with 55 per cent reporting an increase in stress. Perhaps a contributing factor was video calling, as 43 per cent found they went on too long.
Other key findings in the Monitor include the influential events side of the industry.
Virtual events were no match for the real thing with 64 per cent finding them a worse experience than their in person counterparts, but 53 per cent are resigned to seeing them as a big part of the industry going forward.
Industry behemoth events MIPCOM (51 per cent) and MIPTV (47 per cent) were the first and second choices as events the industry still plans on attending, followed by Edinburgh TV Festival (30 per cent), Realscreen (26 per cent), IBC (23 per cent) and NEM and with 19 per cent each.
However, safety is a major concern for prospNATPE ective delegates as 60 per cent think that live events should require Covid testing as an entry requirement and nearly half (47 per cent) felt events should be for vaccinated attendees only.
Finally, on a buoyant note, nearly one in five (19 per cent) of respondents are generating revenues exceeding those pre-pandemic and 34 per cent expect this to take 12-18 months from now to see revenues return to pre-Covid levels. Additionally, 77 per cent are either extremely confident or confident about retaining employment in the next 6 months with little sign of the recession hitting jobs confidence in the TV industry this summer.
”The Content Industry Monitor represents an amazing opportunity to understand the readiness of the industry to return and to tackle critical questions in the market,” declared Jonathan Broughton, MD of Workshare Consulting. “Whether that be a return to physical events or working in an office, this partnership with TellyCast has been an amazingly revealing and rewarding experience.”
“I wanted to mark a year of TellyCast podcasts and by teaming up with WorkShare, we’re doing exactly that with our Content Industry Monitor,” added TellyCast’s Justin Crosby. “It’s packed with revealing insights into a year in TV, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. I hope industry executives will find the survey as fascinating as we do.”